In modern communication, enhanced transmission is used to implement enhanced communication within a certain coverage area. For example, enhanced transmission is performed by using repeated transmission, spreading transmission, transmission time interval bundling transmission, or power boosting transmission, so that communication is implemented between a base station and a terminal at an edge of the coverage area.
In the prior art, to implement enhanced transmission, a base station may repeatedly transmit control information to user equipment (UE), and the UE attempts to use different quantities of repetitions to perform detection on the control information. Specifically, the UE first determines that a quantity of repetitions of the control information is 1, that is, the UE receives the control information in one subframe, and performs detection on the received control information. If the control information fails to be detected, the UE determines that the quantity of repetitions of the control information is 2, receives the repeated control information in two subframes, and performs detection on the control information again. If the control information still fails to be detected, the UE adds 1 to the determined quantity of repetitions of the control information, receives the repeated control information in multiple subframes corresponding to the determined quantity of repetitions, and performs detection on the control information again. This process continues until the control information is detected successfully.
However, when successfully detecting the control information, the UE cannot determine a quantity of repetitions of transmitting the control information by the base station.